Burnley, Stephen

Solid Wastes Management

Solid Wastes Management begins with a focus on processing municipal and similar commercial, as well as industrial wastes; assessing and minimising the environmental impacts of processing and disposal. The second section reviews the treatment technologies available (physical, biological and thermal), their advantages, disadvantages and environmental performance. The third section considers the environmental and health impacts of the technologies and reviews the use of models to predict landfill leachate, gas formation and pollution dispersion. The fourth section is on the human health impact of waste management and draws on the previous sections, bringing in pollutants such as bioaerosols and ultra-fine particulate material. In the fifth and sixth sections, the importance of adopting an integrated approach to waste management is demonstrated through consideration of life cycle assessment and its use to determine optimum waste management solutions.